Wings of Fire: The Hidden Revenge
by wolfsspirit111
Summary: Barrow is a small MudWing-SkyWing, looked down upon for her entire life for not having a group of siblings, not having a family of which to call her own. She vowed to seek revenge on all of Pyrrhia, as a whole. Only a few dragons have the power to stop her, but will they be successful? (Rated T for some violence)
1. Prologue

_Prologue_

Claws scraped through the mud, as if the dragon were slashing at something unseen. They were a muddy shade of reddish brown, the claws were, and covered in little cuts and bleeding bruises. The dragon the claws belonged to had a twisted scowl on her face, part pain and mostly anger, as she looked down at the cuts. She snorted, steam hissing out her nostrils, and winced, turning away. Her orange eyes gleamed in the dusky light, and she turned her broad MudWing snout up to the sky.

"You don't know who you're messing with, dragons. One day soon, I'll-" She suddenly let in a sharp intake of breath, as she felt a talon clamping down firmly on her shoulder. The dragon turned her toward him, big MudWing face wrinkled up in a nasty expression.

 _Oh, great. Crown. Just what I needed._ And for once, she wasn't being sarcastic. Her talons reached instinctively for the bag she had set down in the mud by her tail.

The dragon's bright gold eyes gleamed out of sunken eye sockets, the pupils in them narrowing to slits in concentration. He thumped his big MudWing tail on the ground, a snort huffing out of his nose.

"Not afraid, little pathetic worm?" He paused, seeming to be impressed for a second, and her spirits lifted. "Well… I would say that's brave, but it's downright idiotic." He leaned in. His breath smelled like rotten crocodile. "You _should_ be afraid of me, mistake"

"My name isn't mistake, it's Barrow." Her voice shook slightly, even though she had been absolutely, positively determined to keep it level as she looked at the much larger, clearly purebred MudWing dragon.

Crown's nostrils flared in indignation, but he knew she was still weak. He could obviously easily crush her in a fight, not to mention the fact that she was likely scared under that mask of an expression she was trying to keep from slipping right now.

Barrow's talons shifted to the side, and she ducked her head, attempting to look as if she were flinching away. Her talons groped in the mud for a moment, and a flash of true worry flooded through her. But she found the bag, that she had skillfully hidden, and slid her talons into it. The cold feeling of steel met her scales, and she tested the blade's edge against one of her claws.

Crown growled, stepping back and lashing out his talons, just as she swung her own palm up to block him. He looked outraged as she grabbed his wrist, the beginnings of a roar rumbling in his chest, and flung her off. She turned, screwing up her face as the blade spun up in an arc through the air.

Perhaps a year ago, or even a few months ago, she would have had some hesitation to hurt any dragon, even one as cruel as Crown. But now that part of her was gone, and she had no regrets or hesitation as the blade met his throat and he fell backward into the mud, a soft sigh of shock escaping his mouth.

And then he screamed.

Barrow didn't smile, but simply sat there with a heavy weight of shock spreading through her limbs at what she had done. It wasn't a happy moment, it wasn't a satisfying moment. She had thought this would be the best day of her life, when she would finally prove herself, when she would be rid of this tormenter who surely deserved to die.

But she realised, right then and there, that fear, sadness, heartbreak, and pain were all part of the package that was bravery, happiness, and love. If she took away one, she would take away the other, permanently. And she didn't even mind. All she had cared about was getting revenge, to stop the pain, she didn't care that she was stopping what little spark of kindness remained in her heart.

Crown looked up from the muddy ground, blood gushing from his mouth as he attempted to spit an insult at her, before he went limp. His body was twisted, his eyes wide open in almost comical shock. The blade stuck out of his neck, the wound gushing red and still bleeding. Her talons were soaked in the blood, almost as if she had spilled a bit of red paint on her talons… almost… but no, those days of innocent thinking were over.

Barrow took a step back, wiping her slippery talons on the ground. The damage was done, and Crown was dead, but she would be long gone before they could catch her or find out who had done it. Looking down at his body, she knew it wouldn't be enough. It would never be enough. She needed more revenge than this, she needed to destroy all the tribes.

 _Those bloody arrogant fools, the RainWings, who refused to help me even when I needed them. All they care about is napping in the sun and eating fruit...not that there's anything wrong with the latter… but... they deserve to die._

 _Fish-brains, the SeaWings, they had an alliance with the MudWings once. Any friend of that miserable tribe deserves to die._

 _Cold-hearted IceWings, they're just as bad as the other tribes. Having them out of the way would be good for my plans in the future._

 _MudWings. My own tribe, or so I thought. But instead of being a family, like all MudWings are thought to be, they cast me out. I didn't fit in, because I didn't have siblings. They couldn't understand that, or see that. They will pay._

 _SkyWings. My other tribe. Just as bad if not worse than the MudWings, for they wouldn't even tolerate me near their kingdom. Apparently I was just a disgrace, a freak of nature, a…. mistake._

 _SandWings. They have no part in this, but all of the tribes deserve to pay. I will crush them like the pathetic scorpion-hearts they are._

 _NightWings. Fools, arrogant, overpowered, and pathetic through and through. They might as well kiss their pathetic high-and-mighty position goodbye._

Barrow shuffled backwards through the mud, turning on her talons as she launched herself into the air, wings beating as she flew off.

And that was when she knew. Any dragon that dared oppose her, who dared question her, would be crushed. Only those willing to apologize or help seek her revenge would live, those who stood in her way would die.

A worm of a plan twisted itself into her mind, beginning to take root. She would make sure each kingdom came crashing down, each dragon perished or joined her. She would become all-powerful. She would show them just what a little _mistake, misfit,_ and _hybrid_ could do.

She would convince anyone who had a grudge, help out anyone who was just as chewed up and spat out by the tribes as she was, and she would help them make the tribes pay. Oh, yes, there was nothing sweeter than revenge. She would make sure that it worked, and she wouldn't be alone in this plot…


	2. Chapter One

Seven years ago. That was the exact time of the massacre and thievery, to be exact. Seven years ago, on a clear night, which had been meant to be a celebration. Seven years ago, in the very hatchery of the IceWing palace.

Talons had scraped over the ice, their pale serrated edges digging into the eggshells as the dragon made quick work of the eggs. For his only job was to get only to get one egg, specifically, and kill off most of the others to eliminate any potential threat from dragonets growing up under the parents who were already a big enough threat.

 _To choose one, though._ The IceWing tilted his head, studying the eggs with a sort of cold black detachment lingering in the depths of his eyes. A pile of eggshells lay in the corner, poorly hidden. But, then again, that wasn't his job. He wasn't supposed to hide the shells of the broken eggs, for they would surely be discovered soon, his job was just to find that one egg.

His talons scraped over the last broken egg with a _hiss-shh-shh_ sound, and he tossed it aside, shaking his talons off. His tail dragged along the ice behind him as he studied the rest of the hatchery, pacing back and forth as he recalled his orders.

"Kill those we know will grow up under our enemy's influence." His voice was shallow, harsh, like the winter wind whistling over the sea on a very cold night. "Pick out the egg of a useful dragon, preferably one we can control. Pick out a healthy one, one we can train to be our own little assassin," He recited the well-remembered orders.

He tilted his head, none of the eggs really standing out to him from the pile. There was an extremely pale blue egg in one corner, almost giving off a light of its own, but he didn't look at it. To be frank, that one creeped him out. Instead, his vision swung around to the center of the room, where a medium-sized dull white egg with a few black speckles on top of it sat peacefully.

He stepped toward it, tongue flicking out as he smiled. _Oh yes, this should do wonderfully._ Lifting the egg carefully into his brown seal-hide satchel, he turned out of the hatchery, knowing full-well that the queen's meeting would be over very soon and that he would have to be long-gone before any of the guards so much as glanced at those eggshells.

Looking down at the little egg, nestled peacefully in his satchel, a smile twitched across his face. "You, little one, are going to be our little assassin. Barrow will make sure of that. Yes… quite a marvelous plan of hers, it truly is. I can't wait."

And the IceWing spread his wings. He glanced back at the palace with a kind of detached loathing, before allowing the wind to carry him up, up, and away from that place, with the stolen egg tucked securely by his side.

…

...

~Present Day~

 **Wren**

Wren ducked around Deimos's blow, crouching and swishing her tail across the blackened ground of the arena. She looked up, frost-breath hissing in her throat, but he was faster. His talons clamped down on her snout, and he flung her to the side. Feeling her side smack into the wall, she slid down, before rolling up onto her feet once again. She tried to remember what her trainer had pounded into her head in endless lesson-after-lesson.

 _Just repeat this in your head_. But her head was swimming from the blow, and she staggered on her feet, slumping sideways. Still, the words swam around in her mind, somehow bubbling their way to the surface. _Relentless,_ but she didn't feel relentless. She felt as if she just wanted to lay her head on her talons and sleep for a few centuries, and never look at any of these dragons again. _Quick,_ but the blow had made her movements sluggish. _But… there's also clever…_ Wren smirked to herself, knowing that even in her injured state she could certainly outsmart Deimos.

Laying there limply, she closed her eyes, as if she had given up, but tensed up as she got ready for his next attack. Deimos let out a triumphant roar, and the trainer clicked her tongue disdainfully at the pile of dull ice-colored scales slumped on the floor that was Wren.

Deimos walked over, raising his talon as if to slash out at her again, but she cracked open her eye and watched as his talons came down. _Come on, test me, NightWing._ His claws were a spike-length from her muzzle, when she lashed out her own wings, deflected the blow, and leaped up, ignoring the way the sudden movement made her head throb.

Deimos stumbled backward, a split-second of surprise clouding his vision. It wasn't much, and he recovered fast, but it was all she needed. She whisked her whip-thin tail under his front legs, and he fell chin-down onto the ground as she sprung up into the air and brought her jaws down, right on the back of his neck.

She didn't say anything, she couldn't, but she glared at her trainer defiantly, daring her to insult the move. The trainer, however, simply turned to mark a victory for Wren on her scroll. Wren growled low in her throat, twisting her jaws as she felt Deimos squirm. Suddenly, the black and blue dragon lay perfectly still, knowing that her jaws could twist in a second and kill him.

She could feel him swallow, and felt pride swelled in her chest. "Gonna kill me, whale-face?" He asked, though she could feel the small tremor in his voice. She let go, stepping away with a smirk on her face. "Not this time, I'd rather save it for a day when you're being extra annoying."

It wasn't like she would have killed Deimos, anyhow. They had trained together in this place since they were dragonets, and, besides, to kill an ally was as good as a death sentence.

Deimos laughed, rubbing his neck as he looked over at her. There was a strange expression in his eyes, one she hadn't seen very often. Was that… respect? "Well, lucky for both of us, I don't think there'll be much chance for any of that. Especially now."

She tilted her head, wrinkling up her snout in a kind of 'what?' expression. Deimos just looked back at her with an equally confused expression, managing to mutter out. "You don't know? Well, you finally beat me, so you're good enough to be a real assassin now. Your job starts now, Wren. Congratulations."

The trainer looked up from over her scroll, where she was jotting down notes, and glared pointedly at Deimos. "Yes, that is true, but it is certainly not your place to be telling her that." She then turned to Wren, face twisted in a slightly... envious… expression. "You will get your task with Barrow as soon as I get your notes approved. Be ready and at your best tomorrow at sunrise."

Wren dipped her head in the respectful fashion that was commonly shown to dragons of higher ranking, and turned to leave the arena, mind reeling. She was going to meet Barrow, the very dragon who had taken her egg for the great cause of the revenge upon the dragon tribes. Well, the one who had ordered her egg to be taken, at least. A brief image flashed in her mind of what would be now if her egg had not been selected, and she shuddered.

She could hardly imagine growing up like that, back in the Ice Kingdom, with no idea of the evil of any of the dragons around her. She might even have joined the IceWing army, fighting eventually in the war that Barrow was planning, but on the wrong side. She shuddered for a moment, closing her eyes and thinking of the fact that she was rescued from that future with a very grateful feeling in her heart.

Lost in these thoughts, she bumped awkwardly into a heavily scarred, small skywing slipping down the passageway. He snapped his teeth at her and smoke blew out his mouth, but she simply hissed in return and wrinkled up her nose in a snarl. For there were no apologies here, no, they were all working for the same cause, after all.

Revenge, and although Wren really didn't have anyone outside this place that she even knew, she had grown up believing that Barrow was the heroine of this if it were to be written story, if it were to ever be written down in a scroll. She had grown up believing that she was on the right side, and that revenge and justice were one and the same. She was dutifully loyal to these dragons, and, especially, the one in command. The one she would be meeting the very next morning…

She turned into her little cave down the hall, flopping down on the small slab of cool rock in the corner. It was damp, and small. Four gray walls with a somewhat melted-looking opening in the entrance, as if a dragon had decided the door was too small and instead decided to crash their own way through it. She turned around, exhaling frost-breath onto the small puddle of water and watching as it froze over, before laying down on it and letting out an exhausted sigh.

When she lay on the small slab of ice, she felt more at home than she ever had in the hot arena, with other dragons fire heating the place up like the Sand Kingdom, until it was nearly unbearable.

But here, she felt better, more healthy, even. It was as if she was finally home. Now, the cool moist crevices seeping with water bothered almost all of the other dragons, for they were those who loved or at least preferred heat. But not her, which was why she had agreed to take the lowest, coldest cell. Here, she didn't have to listen to the other dragons shivering and whining all night.

She lay her head on her talons, wondering for a moment what it would be like in the ice kingdom, if she did get a job there. She likely would, seeing as she was the only assassin able to withstand the freezing temperatures that lay in the heart of the ice kingdom. She closed her pale brown eyes, slowly drifting into a shallow sleep.

"Wake up, Whaleface."

She blinked the haze out of her eyes, watching as Deimos's black-scaled face came into view. She would have groaned in frustration at being woken up so early, but she bit it back. Today was the day she was supposed to get an assignment and start acting like a real assassin, after all. She nodded to Deimos, and straightened herself up.

Looking into the little puddle that had been her ice last night, she studied her reflection. She looked tired and a bit disheveled, with her scales having been stained a watery brown from the puddle.

"Do I have time to wash off in the river?" She asked, turning back to Deimos expectantly.

"Ah, yes, I believe so." He smiled, folding his dark wings back behind him and shifting his talons on the floor in an odd manner.

Wren had been training with Deimos since she was a dragonet of about one year of age. She had been sitting in one of the large abandoned, echo-y chambers of this old prison, and a few dragons of Barrow's alliance had brought in this little slightly beat-up looking hybrid dragonet. The two had been paired together in the arena for quite a long time, and had generally grown up together.

Wren shook herself out of the memory, briskly striding out of the little underground cell and spreading her wings in the air, taking off. She heard Deimos's wingbeats close behind her, and she couldn't help but turn back and look at him. "And what are you doing following me?" She raised an eyebrow skeptically, before turning and flying off, hoping he would just make up some excuse and leave her alone.

"Need to talk to you. Alone." Deimos was uncharacteristically cold-sounding, though that could just be because he was trying to hide something in his voice.

She let out a puff of annoyance, knowing perfectly well that Deimos was stubborn and wouldn't listen to her if she told him to leave her alone, anyway.

Hissing through her teeth, she ignored him with a scowl and instead swooped down toward the river. As soon as she plunged in, she felt more refreshed and awake. It was crisp and cold, and immediately rinsed all of the muck off her scales.

She allowed herself a few seconds to enjoy the water, before flapping out and whirling around to start heading back to Barrow and where she was supposed to be getting to right now. To her surprise, she felt Deimos's talon resting on her shoulder, and she spun around to face him, ready to tell him off for trying to hold her off any longer.

Before she could open her mouth to speak, though, he put a talon to her snout in a shushing gesture and looked at her straight in the eyes. His were sparkling dark blue, with little flecks of bright scattered through like stars in the night sky.

"I know, frost-breath, I know. You have to go." He seemed to almost hesitate for a moment, but hesitation was never encouraged here, and they had both grown up saying whatever they wanted and not caring about petty feelings. "But… I needed to tell you something before you left."

Wren tilted her head, sun gleaming off her scales as she studied him carefully. Deimos was never this serious, not once. He had her attention, for the moment, at least. He took her chin in one of his talons, looking her in the eye. "You, you and me. We're made for one another, Wren. Whatever happens in the Ice Kingdom, we'll come back to each other… and-"

But he was cut off by a semi-loud roar from a burly guard below, who had tilted his head back to yell that the meeting was starting in about a minute. Wren looked Deimos full in the face, too shocked to say anything. And then she broke his gaze, and, without a word, swooped down toward the guard who had yelled the warning.

Her talons thunked into the stone, and she strode forward into a semicircular area with broken columns lining it on either side. In the middle, there was a crumbling rectangular tunnel sloping down into the ground. Since the dragons apparently weren't in the circle, she slid her way down into the tunnel.

She couldn't help but wrinkle her nose at the stifling heat and burning smell that greeted her once she was under, or the slippery… well, she at least hoped that was algae. Once she reached the bottom of the tunnel, she picked herself up and composed herself as best she could, remembering her lectures on posture and confidence she had when she was little more than a two-year-old dragonet.

She straightened her spine, pushed her wings back flat against her back, and leveled her head. She began to walk down the long, twisty, narrow, utterly creepy and way too uncomfortably warm tunnel. There wasn't enough time to be perfect, though, she had to hurry. She peered both ways, looking for any sign of a chamber that the meeting could be held in.

Nearly walking right by the entrance, she only paused when she heard faint murmurs of other dragons inside. She backed up a few paces, poking her head into a slightly cooler, less damp cave that you would almost certainly miss if you weren't familiar with the odd ways of the ruins that Barrow's allegiance was based in.

She slipped in, making as little noise as possible, and paused a moment to observe the cavern. It was a larger, more open cave, with a jagged and steep rock slanting down to a much lower and darker pedestal in the middle. And on that pedestal, with her back turned and a black cloak clasped across her slight shoulders, was Barrow.

Wren sucked in a breath of trepidation and awe, unable to take her eyes off the outline of that one dragon. The one she had never seen before. The one who was in charge of all of this, and the one who had made sure she was hatched here and trained properly.

Her talons clinked on the damp stone as she sat down about halfway down the slanted rock face, straightening up as much as possible and attempting to drop a mask over her awe-struck and slightly nervous expression.

She peered through the dusky light at the cloaked figure below. She couldn't tell what Barrow was doing, but it looked like the older dragon was simply sitting there with her back turned until all of the others had joined them. Wren looked around, wondering who it was who was late, and wincing as she felt the tremor from a boulder rolling into place at the entrance, sealing off any attempted entrance or exit.

Barrow had turned around by now, and was looking up at all the dragons around her. She was quite the small dragon, actually, only a bit larger than Wren. And Wren was only around 6 years old.

Barrow turned around finally, raising her bright gaze to the dragons watching above. The light shone off of her eyes, causing them to give off a faint glow in the dim light. Her cloak swished around her talons, and she spoke.

Wren wasn't sure what she would have expected, but this wasn't it. The voice that belonged to Barrow was hollow, lifeless. It echoed like an empty cave completely devoid of life, into which a stone was being thrown. It wasn't so much the vocals that were scary, it was the monotony of it. The careful deliberation with which she said each word, as if she had thought them through very carefully. The vocals themselves were a normal pitch, slightly deeper and more gravelly than usual. But there was something about her expression as she talked, the way she moved her mouth. You could just tell that this was a dragon who had metaphorical ice running through her veins, a dragon who had seen the bad side of the world and never truly came back from it.

"Today I have a very important mission, one assigned to a younger dragon in this allegiance against pyrrhia. This dragon, however, has proven herself on multiple occasions, with the _little_ tasks we assigned to her in that pathetic scouting wing just north of here."

Wren shivered slightly as the memories flooded back to her. It felt all wrong, that mission. She had been sent there with Deimos to dispatch immediately of several younger soldiers-in-training, around the same age as they had been at that time. She had remembered that night, almost as if it were yesterday.

(flashback time)

 _ **Wren glided slowly over the mountaintop, Deimos slightly in front of her. They knew what they had to do, for their trainer had told them that it was just a little test to see if they were ready to advance in training as an assassin for Barrow.**_

 _ **She turned down, dull pale gray wings standing out in the dusk, while Deimos was hardly more visible than a shadow on a dark night. She had felt a slight twinge of jealousy in her heart, knowing that she had to prove them all wrong and beat Deimos for once, this time. She dove quickly down.**_

 _ **The camp was laid out in a simple manner, the dragon tribe being skywings this time. One of them had noticed something a bit off on a part of their scouting trip, and had dragged their sibling and wing leader along with them to investigate the strange activity. Two of the dragons were siblings, and those were the ones she and Deimos had been assigned to kill. When they were finished with that, the older skywing would be so infuriated he would almost surely follow their trail back right into an ambush of more skilled fighters, capable of killing a dragon as skilled as he was.**_

 _ **She turned her attention back to the task at hand, perking her ears to catch any sounds from below that could sign that the skywings were already alerted to their presence there. Deimos had seemingly vanished, and Wren sighed. But she wasn't going to let him get away with it this time, she wasn't going to just let him beat her in this that easily, even though it wasn't really a competition.**_

 _ **Setting down lightly, she tensed her body, every nerve alert. She felt as if she were ready to spring halfway across Pyrrhia with all the adrenaline bunched up in her muscles. She moved into the shadows, sliding fluidly around a few of the tents. Poking her head into several of the tents, she decided by process of elimination and sense that the two target dragons must be in the little tent there, one glowing with a pale flickering firelight.**_

 _ **She poked her head in, eyes scanning quickly around the room for any immediate danger to her own safety. She could see a line of weapons lining one of the walls of the tent, but none near the sleeping forms of the two dragons in the center of the tent.**_

 _ **Turning her eyes to the sleeping forms, she took in the details of both dragons quickly, while simultaneously sliding a blade out of the short sleeve that was bound around her front leg. It was a short disk of a blade, and she had to hold it carefully so as not to cut her palm with the razor-sharp edge.**_

 _ **She crept closer, the firelight glinting off the golden-red scales of the sleeping dragons before her. They looked so peaceful… so… at ease. She shuddered, wondering for a moment if this is what she should be doing. She glanced at the peaceful face of the smaller skywing, and her blood ran cold.**_

 _ **Who was she to kill these dragons, who was she to decide if a life was worth taking or leaving be? She shuddered at the prospect of that skywing never breathing again, and took a step back. What was wrong with her? This wasn't how the assignment was supposed to go. She was supposed to do it without hesitation, to prove her loyalty. This was the reason she hadn't been able to advance in her training, no matter how good a fighter she was.**_

 _ **Slowly, quietly, she stepped back. She wasn't sure she could do it, if it was right, for her to just end a life like that. It was for Barrow, that she knew, and she would be punished if she failed to complete this assassination. She was about to sheathe her blade and walk away, when she heard a startled cry and the thunk of metal into flesh. Her brown eyes swiveled toward the noise, frostbreath puffing from her mouth in surprise as she let out the breath she had been holding.**_

 _ **One of the skywings was lying dead on the floor, a narrow axe sticking out of his back, right above where his heart would have been beating almost moments before. She looked up, seeing Deimos standing there with a bit of a shocked expression on his face. The other SkyWing had scrambled up by now, and was hissing as fire gathered in her throat to shoot at him.**_

 _ **Deimos hadn't seen her, and he had turned away. Wren made a split-second decision then. One that would change her life forever. One that would make her a murderer, but one that would prove her loyalty to Barrow nonetheless. Perhaps it was just that she knew Deimos, and she did not know the SkyWing. But either way, she sprang forward, the blade sliding back into her clenched talons.**_

 _ **There was no sound as her talons landed down on the back of the SkyWing's neck, unlike the loud thunk the axe had made when the other skywing was hit with it. Her blade slid under the dragon's chin, as she made a quick upward motion with her talons and cut through her throat. Wren toppled to the ground, doing a roll and standing up as Deimos turned to look at her in surprise.**_

" _ **O-oh" Deimos stammered as the other dragon's body slid onto the ground, her mouth apparently half-opened as if to breathe fire. "Was she about to…"**_

" _ **You ARE AN IDIOT!" Wren roared, snout wrinkling as she clenched her talons. He had almost gotten himself killed. Almost, but not quite. And she had killed a dragon, a dragon who had done nothing to her, just to save his hide. No, no, she tried to convince herself, it was for loyalty.**_

As she came back to the present, she realised that Barrow had called her up to the front, and hastily scrambled up to get there. She managed to recover from her slip-up fairly fast, though, and began to stalk forward slowly with her head up and her face expressionless. She reckoned even the never-satisfied trainer would be happy with **this**.

"Assassin, your first job will be set in the Ice Kingdom." Barrow's eyes bored into her, chilling her to the bone, and it took all of her willpower not to shiver. She raised her head to Barrow's level and nodded slowly, fighting the urge to flinch away.

A slow smile slid across Barrow's face. "Good. Your target will be Aufeis, a royal guard loyal to the throne, who has fought many battles against our spy attempts and needs to be taken down in order for us to infiltrate the ice kingdom." Wren nodded again, almost ready to turn and go sit down, before she remembered what she was supposed to be asking.

"What does this dragon look like, and where might I find him? Are there any potential problems standing in the way of me attempting to get closer to this dragon?" She twitched her tail, still utterly terrified to be talking to Barrow. Those eyes were just… unsettling, to say the least. Not to mention the voice.

Barrow looked thoughtful, though anyone watching could tell it was false and just done for show. The reddish brown dragon had likely never improvised once in her life. "Aufeis is a darker gray icewing, a bit of an oddity for his kind. He has white speckles down the back of his neck and a solid white tail and wings. His eyes, as our spies tell us, are a sickly yellow color." Barrow paused, before continuing. "You will be instructed on how to get into the royal guard apprenticeship soon enough. It should be easy, but then you need to gain his trust or at least remove any trace of suspicion before assassinating him, as another icewing catching you could be a… tricky situation."

 _To say the least._ Wren thought to herself, shifting as her talons scraped uncomfortably across the stone.


	3. Chapter Two

"Well?" Barrow stood taller, her presence suffocating Wren's thoughts. "Are you going to do something besides standing there? It's time to leave." Barrow's eyes darted all around Wren, sizing her up. _Probably trying to look for weaknesses_ , Wren thought. She attempted to stand tall, not wanting to be called back from her first mission due to looking too cowardly.

"Oh- yes." Wren stuttered, stepping back. She took a quick glance at Deimos, who looked as worried as she was. But at least he could hide it with a mask of lies - when she so easily stumbled over words. She lifted her wings and propelled off of the rocky stone, swooping into the air. She wanted to dive down and stay close to the ground, but she could feel couplets of eyes watching her every move.

Once she was out of distance of the dragons, she dived closer to the ground, reaching her talons out and gently flowing her talons through the grass. _Wow…_ she thought in amazement, curling her claws back in and propelling herself upward. _This is so… beautiful_. She liked the way the trees curved in many ways with long branches spreading outward. She stopped, plucking a fat beetle from one of them and placing him gently on the ground. He scurried away, hiding in the stalks of grass.

She had never gotten to be out of the company of Barrow's alliance, and, now that she was, she found herself wanting to enjoy every little freedom, even if it wasn't for long.

" _Stop wasting your time!"_ Wren could hear her trainer screeching orders at her like a… _like a hippo._ Wren threw herself back, laughing so hard she had to gasp for air.

She took off once again, flying for a little less than an hour. She dove back to the ground but noticed something she _didn't_ like. Gooey, brown mud had gotten stuck on her tail.

"Yuck!" She mumbled, trying to scrape it off, to no avail. _Great. Now I have to go find a river to wash off in-_

"Hey!" Wren jerked around to see a small Mudwing, maybe a little less than a year. "Hey! Terra! Is that you? Oh my moons, it is, isn't it! Swamp has been looking for you forever, we all have! I am so glad to see you; where are you going?"

Wren threw herself into the air, twisting sideways. She flapped her wings as fast with all of her might.

"Terra?" The Mudwing's voice cracked. Wren twisted back, watching tears flow from his face, puddling onto the ground. Was this pity?

Wren turned away. "I have no idea who you are talking about. Go away." She mustered her coldest voice, which was surprisingly hard. Was this the right move? Should she have been nicer? No. Surely her trainer would have approved of what she had said and done. Surely _Barrow_ would have approved.

The poor Mudwing - he curled into a ball, with a soft cry.

As Wren kept flying for a few more days, she didn't forget him. She kept imagining comforting him and telling him it was okay. Could she really be this… demonic? Was being an assassin really worth it?

 _I guess I don't have a choice… they stole my egg. If I tried to disobey when I was little, they would have killed me._ She gazed at the Ice Kingdom - it was so close but so far. _I could fly there. I could tell them all about Barrow's plan. I could give myself up._ Wren jolted in shock - where did those rebellious thoughts come from? The sight of home?

Wren landed, talons crunching in the unfamiliar white substance as she landed. It was bitter cold, chilling her right down to the bone. She sighed, remembering the small slab of ice she used to make for herself to lay on back with the others in Barrow's alliance. This was just like that, but instead of melting down in a few hours and covering a meager amount of land, it stretched on for miles. It felt…. right, somehow. Like she was finally getting home after being away for so much of her life.

She shook her head, forcing herself to focus on the task at hand - trying to find the IceWings around here. Of course, an easy way to do this would have been to cause some chaos. Then they would probably come running out to check what the fuss was, but that would just land her in prison and with no way to properly complete her job.

 _Aufeis is a darker gray icewing, a bit of an oddity for his kind. He has white speckles down the back of his neck and a solid white tail and wings. His eyes, as our spies tell us, are a sickly yellow color._ Barrow's description rang in her head, that cold and hollow voice… echoing off slick stone walls… trapped underground with fire. She shuddered.

 _Right. So to find him, I'll probably have to search around a bit first._ Tearing her thoughts away from Barrow, she wrinkled her snout, all she really wanted to do was lie in the snow here and relax a bit first, enjoying the cold chill as a lizard might enjoy laying in the hot sunlight.

She lay down, deciding that just a moment of relaxing couldn't really hurt, and that since she didn't know what she was expecting she was just… enjoying it while she could. Her pale brown eyes closed in bliss as the cold seeped into her scales, and she smiled. She turned on her back, rolling around and probably looking a complete fool. But it just felt so **good** to finally be away from all that heat and into the place she really belonged.

She heard a quiet giggle from somewhere off to her right, and her head shot up. She scrambled to her feet in about half a second, it seemed like, but then immediately afterward slipped on the unfamiliar terrain and nose-planted onto a sheet of ice. She groaned. _Wow, what a great first impression i'm making on this IceWing._

She felt a gentle talon, cold as the snow itself, lightly press against her own and pull her up. She scowled, glaring into the eyes of… another IceWing.

It was a female, with scales such a bright blue-white they nearly seemed to glow. She had little snowflake-like markings, a dark blue color, framed in odd markings around her cheek and eyes, then speckling down her neck, back, and out ot the edges of her tail. Her snout faded to a brighter blue, and her eyes were like frozen rivers, pale blue but with a hint of something darker lurking underneath.

"Are you okay, clumsy?" The other IceWing smiled, letting go of Wren's talon and smiling slightly.

Wren rubbed her snout, trying to hold up the glaring mask. "I'm… fine." Her eyes flicked to the side, avoiding the other dragon's gaze.

The other dragon just flicked her tail, folding her wings back. "Well, if.. um.. If you wouldn't mind, I have to catch up to dad's patrol. Nice meeting you, clumsy dragon."

Wren paused a moment, a bit stunned that the other dragon was so… well… kind. If she had been back with Barrow's allegiance, she probably would have just been laughed at and, when she got up, been pushed down again.

She stood there, a bit surprised for a moment, before finally realizing another Icewing had appeared behind them.

"Eira!" He growled in a sharp voice. He was almost twice the size of the kind dragon, and much larger than Wren. He was an even brighter color - eye bleeding white. Wren focused on one of the many scars on his chest. "Your father is looking for you! You are already are twenty minutes late!"

"I am going! I just nee-" Eira cried.

"What is wrong with her? Why are her scales so ugly?" The guard growled. "Who even are you? State your purpose and circle." He narrowed his eyes. Wren stood still. _What are 'circles'?_ She wanted to ask. "Hey!" He snapped his talons in Wren's face. "You talk?"

"Y-yes…" Wren stuttered. "I-I am…" _Should I lie? No, that would make things worse. It's not like they would know my name, anyway. I was named by the SkyWing who trained me, not the IceWings._ "Wren. I am Wren."

"Well?" His eyes darted around at her. "What is your circle?"

Wren paused for a moment, eyes darting side to side. There didn't seem to be a way out of this question. She opened her mouth, struggling to keep a straight face. "I-I'm-"

The kinder IceWing fixed the guard with a glare, a bit of frost-breath huffing out her nose in her annoyance. "Who are you to ask? If she doesn't want to tell us, she doesn't need to. Are you some sort of interrogator or something?"

The guard looked a bit taken aback at first, before huffing out a couple of laughs. "Just like your father, sometimes, Eira. I'll leave it alone for now, but I'm sure you know that Aufeis will ask the same questions."

Eira nodded thoughtfully, while Wren's jaw almost dropped to the snowy ground. Things were starting to click into place, now. _So… If he referred to her being just like her father, as well as being just like Aufeis… does that mean that…_

 _Oh_ _ **NO.**_

The dragon she had been sent here to kill was the father of this kind dragon, who had helped her out of the snow and only jokingly teased her… What did the guard call her? Eira? She must have looked about as surprised as she felt, because Eira looked over at her with a bit of concern on her face. "Er… are you alright?"

Wren wanted to bury her face in the snow and never look out again. But no, that wouldn't do. She looked up, forcing an expressionless mask over her face. "I'm… fine."

Eira grinned at her, seemingly forgetting about the guard, and starting to keep walking, as if she already knew Wren would follow her. "Is that, like, your catchphrase or something? 'I'm… fine'. You do realise you've said that twice in the space of the few minutes I've known you for, right?"

A smile twitched at the corners of Wren's mouth, but she forced it down. She couldn't get close to this dragon, especially not now. Not like this. For Pyrrhia's sake, she was supposed to **kill** Eira's father.

She followed after Eira, slipping and sliding on the unfamiliar terrain. They came to a small hillside, dotted with small mounds of snow but mostly slick ice all the way up and down both sides. Peering over the top of it, and clutching the slippery ice with slightly trembling talons, Wren could see a large encampment. She tilted her head, studying it. "Have you ever been here?" Eira asked.

"Y-yes!" Wren lied. She jolted her head away and looked at the valley nearby. _Stupid Wren!_ She thought. _You are going to give yourself away!_

There were icy buildings dotted around a "valley" of ice. It looked pretty heavily fortified, with guards keeping watch on all of the obvious entrances and some serious-looking soldiers sparring in a little icy area she assumed was a makeshift arena.

Eira narrowed her eyes for a moment, as a playful smirk flashed across her face. Wren only got a split-second's warning before Eira whisked her tail under Wren's front talons and sent her sliding back down the snow-hill. Wren curled her talons into the ice, a sharp grating noise coming from it before she slowed to a stop in the middle of the hill. For some reason, she felt like laughing, like playing like a dragonet again. The way she used to when no-one was looking back with Barrow's alliance. Before…. before...

"Ha! You thought you could push me around. Joke's on you, Eira!" Wren smirked, straining not to slide further down the hill.

"Oh… really? Then how about THIS!" Eira lobbed a snowball at Wren, which bounced in a powdery puff off the slick hill and then into Wren's face. She blinked several times, shaking the snow off her nose, while Eira slid down the hill after her and pushed Wren down all the way. Wren grabbed onto her tail and pulled her after her, and they landed in a jumble of talons and tails at the bottom of the hill in a thick drift of powdery snow.

For some reason, Wren couldn't stop laughing. She tumbled down and sneezed several times, the snow flying off the end of her nose.

"EIRA!" A roar sounded from above. A huge dragon swooped down. He was a odd, dark gray Icewing who was… who was - _Aufeis!_ "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"

He glared with all of his might are Wren, who was fighting the urge not to shrink into a little ball. Eira stepped in front of her. "Wren did nothing wrong! It was my fault. I-I took her out of her class to play with her!" Eira was very good at lying - Wren could tell. _Does she suspect me?_

"Go to your room. I will be speaking with Prince Vale. He's someone who finally will be taking my complaints." He stepped in front of Wren. "And for you. What is your current rank?"

Eira stepped forward slightly, seemingly unruffled by Aufeis' angry outburst. She looked at Wren thoughtfully for a moment, and Wren again wondered what exactly she was thinking behind those icy blue eyes. "She's a.. Third circle IceWing, father."

Wren blinked. _Why is she doing this? Does she know something's not right with me? If so… why this… why not just try to kill me like any other normal dragon would do to someone who didn't seem like they were in the right place, or doing the right thing._

However, Wren was glad of the opportunity. She had no idea what these "circles" were, but she was going to take advantage of Eira's helping her out. She stepped forward, unsure what was customary to do, and made a small, almost bow-like gesture. "Y-yes, sir."

An idea flashed in the depths of her mind, and she paused a moment, sorting out her thoughts. It was probably worth the risk. "I seek to j-join the Royal Guard, sir, and train as one of y-your…" She looked over at Eira, hoping the other IceWing would help her out.

"Apprentices?" Eira suggested, stepping forward. "Yes, father, she wanted to see you. That's why I took her out of school."

Aufeis looked bemused for a moment, before shaking his head slightly. He did seem a bit calmer now, though. "Then why did you say you took her out of class to play with her?"

Although Aufeis didn't seem like the smartest dragon at first, more like one of those guards all-muscle and no-brains, he was figuring this out pretty fast.

Eira nodded, this time, turning her head away in what was really guilt for lying to him but could have also been interpreted as embarrassment. "Well… yeah, that was part of it… You see, she had made this game where you take some of the snow and..." Eira started piling snow and mumbling to herself.

Aufeis rubbed his forehead with one of his talons, sighing in a way that gave him the "why me" expression. He turned around, and called out behind him.

"You know what? I don't have time with this right now, anyway. I have a meeting with Prince Vale to discuss certain…. Issues." He narrowed his eyes at Wren when he said this, and she fought the urge to shrink into a ball again. "And I'm going to be late for it. Don't think I won't speak to you both about this… tomorrow."

Eira nodded, dipping her head and smiling slightly at Wren. She then turned, and, with a light flap of her wings, took off and headed toward one of the tents down near the bottom of the little encampment.

When Eira left, Aufeis turned towards Wren. "You. Where do you live."

"I-I stay in the house near the castle-" Wren signalled to a tiny house, to the west of the castle.

"Take me there." Aufeis growled. "Now! I don't have all day." He showed his fangs to Wren, a row of wickedly sharp, polished teeth. "I wasn't kidding about the meeting with Prince Vale."

 _Oh, three moons. Gah, no. Think, Wren, think!_

But she couldn't think. Aufeis was already growling at her, and if she suddenly changed direction or tried to run he would realise she wasn't who she said she was, and he would likely throw her in the IceWing prison immediately. Then again, if she did go with him, she could end up knocking on an empty house and be questioned on why she lived alone, or knock on an occupied house… and… well, she didn't think all IceWings were as nice in the covering-for-you department as Eira was.

 _Three moons, this is very very bad._

She furrowed her brow, tail swishing back and forth across the snowy ground. _Darn it, i've been trained to lie. So why am I freezing up? I can do this...right?_

"Are you sure you want me to take you all the way over there, sir? I wouldn't want to inconvenience you… or… make you late for your meeting with the prince."

Aufeis paused to consider this for a moment, before decisively nodding. "We're going toward the palace anyway, and if you'd stop wasting time I won't be late."

Wren paused a moment, thinking. But she couldn't come up with anything else to say or do, so she just shrugged and tried to act nonchalant over what was really her having a small nervous breakdown. She turned, swooping into the air with her wings, and didn't check to see if Aufeis was following her.

She nervously wrung her talons as they flew, and, when they eventually landed outside the little igloo-like house, she had to fight a wave of panic.

Aufeis moved forward confidently, knocking on the little sheet of ice that was being used as a door, and nodded to her. She heard footsteps approaching from inside.

 _Oh_ _ **NO**_

The door was opened by a pretty little pale white IceWing, without any other tones mixed into her scales. She looked at Aufeis with a bit of boredom on her face, as if she wasn't used to seeing him around and certainly wasn't surprised he'd shown up at her door with a strange, dull-scaled IceWing having half a panic attack behind him.

Aufeis looked at her, and smiled. "Ah, wonderful. Someone was home. Does this dragonet belong to you?"

The pale IceWing looked at her for a few seconds, rolled her eyes, let out a yawn and a bored, "Nope", before shutting the door in both of their faces.

Aufeis turned on her, lips curling up in a snarl.

"How are you going to explain that, little mystery dragon? I'll leave you to think of something, and it better be pretty good, to get out of this. But I need to see Prince Vale now."

 _Oh thank the moon and stars and all of Pyrrhia that he isn't going to interrogate me now._

She breathed a sigh of relief as he launched himself into the air again, spiraling directly toward one of the larger ice palaces.

(Timeskip to night time)

Wren rolled over onto her side, the scratchy ice brushing up against her scales. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of being surrounded by the snow and ice. She had closed her pale brown eyes, and was about to drift off, when suddenly she felt a talon gently reach out and touch her shoulder.

Almost without turning around, she knew who it was. _Eira._ She shivered slightly at the touch, it seemed however cold the snow around her was, Eira's scales were colder.

"Mmpf," she half-growled into the snow, for she had just gotten comfortable and realised that her journey earlier had really tired her out.

"Shhh, Shivertalons, I want to show you something."

Wren lifted her head.

"Shivertalons?" Wren rolled her eyes. "That is the WORST nickname ever." She sleepily picked up a hunk of snow and threw it at her, missing by a mile. "Anyway, why did you wake me up?"

"Aw, come on. You know you love my nicknames, after all… it takes a special snowflake to come up with something that creative."

"Bah, I don't want to hear it." Wren settled back into the snow, slowly drifting away into a deep slumber. She snuggled her wings in closer to her body and curled in her tail.

A glimmer of mischief appeared in Eira's bright blue eyes, and she tilted her head to the sideways, leaning forward conspiratorially.

"Get up, Shivertalons, or I'll… _tell everyone about your little secret_." She laughed.

Wren almost jumped out of her scales, scrambling backward into the ice as her face switched from sleepy to terrified. She was awake now.

"Just kidding. Jeez, calm down." Eira wrinkled her snout at Wren. "Well, whatever it is you're hiding, it must be something pretty big to get that reaction. Anyhow, you're up now! Let's go!"

"H-how… what?" Wren turned to face the other dragon, extremely confused. If Eira _didn't_ know her secret, then how had she…

"Come on! You're obviously hiding something! I mean, your face when Snowstorm - that's the guard from earlier, by the way - asked you what circle you were in. It's like you had never heard of them before. And the way you didn't know what to say, when Aufeis asked you those questions." She tilted her head to the side. "Come to think of it, you showed up out of nowhere, too. Suddenly there, as if blown in by the latest blizzard. I've never even seen or heard of you before."

"I-I-" Wren froze in terror. She knew someone would ask eventually; but…

"Oh, alright," Eira nudged her. "I won't pester you with questions. Just-" Eira looked down at Wren's talons, then looked her straight in the eye. "-just tell me if something is going on. I'm worried for you."

 _She's worried… for me? I've hardly even met her, and she knows I have secrets, too. How could one dragon be so kind and trusting all at the same time?_

She looked at Eira curiously, who was staring up into the night sky, speckled with tiny white stars that reflected back the same color as the pale shining snow below. The other dragon turned to her, and, with a little smile, said quietly.

"Besides, you're not the only one with secrets."

Wren frowned. Surely Eira couldn't possibly mean herself, after all, she was the daughter of the very leader of the royal guards, a dragon who had to be an example to others younger than her. Eira surely couldn't have anything as big to hide as Wren… could she? No. That was ridiculous.

Eira scooted closer, so their wings were brushing now, and looked over. The starlight sparkled and reflected in her already bright blue eyes, making them seem to glow.

"Anyway, are you up for a little trip?"

"To where?" Wren asked, still a bit cautious to follow the other IceWing anywhere.

"A place I'm not supposed to be, and you're not supposed to be. How does a little adventure to the princes' palace sound?" Eira grinned mischievously.

"What for?" To Wren, it seemed like a pretty bad idea. After all, neither of them had been invited anywhere near the palace. And if they were caught, it would be an awful lot of trouble both of them, but mostly she, would be in.

"For fun, of course!" Eira bumped her wing, winking and grinning. "It's absolutely **amazing** on the inside, besides, I can tell you about circles and all the other stuff you seemed kind of… confused about… while we're there!"

Wren tried to hold her smile back, still too tired to be thinking completely straight. She wasn't exactly sure why she was agreeing to this, but now that Eira had pointed that out, it **did** sound quite fun.

Eira nodded, before, swooping off with a laugh. Wren took off after her, with a halfhearted begrudging sigh, her wings stirring the sparkling snow below her into a flurry.

Eira glided above the assorted ice buildings, scales glimmering in the moonlight. Quite suddenly, she swerved toward a large, dark, jagged-looking icy palace.

Of course, it wasn't the actual icewing palace, but it was close enough. It had been built for a royal sibling several decades ago in honor of some memorable feat, but now it belonged to the two IceWing princes, Vale and Haze.

It was quite the formidable structure, made completely of ice stretching up toward the sky in long jagged icicles. They seemed to glow from the inside out, a faint light resonating from a few of them. It was very intimidating, with it's slick ice on all sides and a few gaping black-looking crevices for windows and doors.

She fumbled a few wing-beats, and had to backtrack, as Eira had turned quite sharply and spiraled gracefully into one of the rooms dotting the top tower on one side. She felt a stab of anxiety over going into the palace, but pushed it aside and spiraled not-so-gracefully through the same window.

It was very dim inside, hardly any light at all compared to the bright snow and moonlight outside. She blinked her eyes a few times, waiting for them to adjust, before looking around. The room was very smooth, different from the jagged exterior, and there were several finely-knitted tapestries decorating the walls. They all portrayed battle scenes, dragon tribes at war. Probably some history, there.

She reached up a talon to touch one of the finely-woven IceWings, who was exhaling frost-breath into the mouth of a NightWing. Eira's tail spines clattered behind her, and she jumped slightly, too caught-up in the moment to remember the other IceWing was there with her.

Eira was beside, her, and looked over at her, her eyes still just as bright even in the dim lighting. "Come on, I have to show you something," she breathed, wings folded down tightly to either side of her small frame.

Wren turned away from the tapestry, allowing herself a lingering glance at it before slowly moving out of the room after Eira, talons clinking against the ice in an annoying and odd way. She wasn't used to disguising her movements on such a brittle and… well… clink-y substance.

They moved through several more icy chambers, each decorated in it's own unique way, and some completely empty but ornately carved. Wren would be completely lost as to where they were or how to get out if it weren't for Eira there beside her, quietly narrating each work of art or purpose these rooms served.

Finally, they came into a larger and more lit-up cave. There were intricate ice sculptures of the icewing palaces here, the layout of the training area she had been brought to, and even little carvings of dragons out of the ice. She breathed a sigh and bent over the little creations, eyes open wide in wonder.

Eira smirked from next to her, that look perfectly saying ' _I told you so_ '.

"See, Shivertalons, what did I tell you? Worth it, right?"

"U-um, yay, I mean, yes. Yes. Yeah, it was." Wren stammered for a moment, before closing her jaw. _OH. MY. MOONS. I NEED TO GET A HOLD OF MYSELF! Why am I stammering like a moron? Nopenopenopenope. I'm just going to keep my mouth closed for the rest of eternity now._

Eira looked a bit surprised for a moment, before bursting into giggles.

"Okay, then, let's get going so we can see the rest of the palace before it's time for training!" The pale blue IceWing took a step toward the door on the far side of the hall, and Wren followed.

Halfway toward the stairs, Wren's wing brushed against one of the spears standing propped up casually against the wall, and it went crashing to the ground with way too much noise than was necessary, in Wren's opinion. The two froze for a moment, remaining absolutely still. There was a shifting of scales from somewhere down the hall in the general direction of where they had come from.

"Who's there?" A rough, gravelly voice called out from around the bend, and they could hear footsteps approaching.

Wren was the first to unfreeze, stumbling as she almost tripped in her rush to get down the stairs. They were slippery, and she had to grip them with her talons so she didn't go skidding all the way down right away. Eira was close behind her, she could hear the mad scrabbling of her talons on the ice.

Eira paused to look back and check how far off the guard was, if they were visible at all. They weren't, but the momentary distraction caused her to lose her grip on the step. Her talons shot out from under her, and she went slipping and tumbling into Wren.

Wren tried to turn around and get a grip on the icy steps again, but it was no use. The two of them were already tumbling down to the bottom of the steps, and absolute tangle of talons and tails. On the way down, Wren couldn't help but try to turn her back to the impact, knowing Eira was a bit smaller than her and probably could get hurt a bit easier.

When they finally landed at the bottom of the steps, both of them were almost completely out of breath. Though a bit bruised, neither of them were badly hurt. They lay there a moment, dazed, before Eira sprang up.

"Hurry! Come on, come on, we've got to get out now!" There was a look of fear and exhilaration in her eyes, and she pulled Wren to her feet. They darted along one of the more narrow passageways at the base of the stairs. After making a few sharp turns, they tumbled out, breathless, into the air.

Wren's heart jumped as they started to freefall, but it lasted less than a second before both of them landed smack in the middle of an enormous powdery snow-drift that had accumulated outside one of the windows in the lowest story of the palace.

There was a slightly shocked silence after the initial landing, before Eira was the first to break the silence. She burst out laughing, breathless giggles escaping her mouth as she curled into a little ball on the powdery snow.

 _I was sent here to kill him, to kill Aufeis, to kill her father, to kill the leader of the Royal Guard of the IceWings._

 _I_ _ **CAN'T.**_

 _I just… can't do it… it's so pathetic._

 _Because of this dragon, I can't bring myself to even… complete one mission. I really am a failure. To Barrow. To Deimos. To Eira. To_ _ **everyone.**_

Wren, for the life of her, couldn't tell you why she started laughing too. But she did. She laughed with her, lying in the powdery snow outside of an IceWing palace, in the middle of the night. She laughed even as she felt her world, everything she knew, shattering around her. She laughed with her, laying by her side, knowing she probably would never get the chance to do so again.

 _I either tell her, and she'll hate me._

 _Or I kill him, and she'll hate me._


	4. Chapter Three

_Hello everyone! It's been a pleasure updating this story on here, and i hope all of you have enjoyed as well. In this chapter you get to see the reason Eira is so keen on covering-for-Wren, even if she doesn't know who Wren is or what she's doing in the Ice Kingdom._

* * *

 **Eira**

Gazing back at Wren, Eira tossed her head back forward as she lifted off and began to fly away. The feeling of having a friend again was so… wonderful. But, just as she had known would happen, the guilt had begun to trickle in. _Oh, Slush._ She shoved the thoughts into the back of her head and shook herself from head to tail.

 _Do I even deserve this? A good, pure friend?_ Eira dropped her wings, lowering to a stop.

 _Hmm… but what is wrong with Wren?_ She seemed so pure hearted, although secrets were buried under those talons. She found herself curious, though, about what exactly Wren was hiding. It couldn't be too bad, whatever it was, and she was sure that whatever secrets this dragon had, they were certainly not as bad as her own.

It was the morning after they had had their little nighttime adventure through the IceWing princes'' palace, and it was a very nice day. Sun shone down on the snowdrifts, causing the individual ice crystals to flash and catch the morning sunlight, lighting up the entire landscape in an ethereal, beautiful way.

She opened her mouth, flexing her jaws in a huge yawn. Wren looked fine, as well-rested as ever, behind her, but she was having trouble keeping her eyes open. She knew the effect would wear off in a little while, as soon as they started the daily warm-up training, but for now she felt like crawling into a nice soft snowdrift and sleeping for the next few years.

It was only when she just had fallen asleep that she heard laughter. It wasn't the laughter of any dragon, no, this was something more. A creak of pain was seeping into the laughter, and it had became so fierce that she finally lifted her head to see the source.

Bloody, cut, and torn apart was Slush. Just as she had seen him last. As his laughing echoed across the glaciers it began to sound like millions of voices. She stared, wide-eyed, frozen in place. She suddenly felt a jolt and was woken up by the talons of Wren.

"Are you okay?" Wren tried to hide it, although she could tell that she was wondering the same thoughts she was. "You were… looking pretty terrified… and I rushed over." Eira looked at her reflection in the frozen puddle next to her and saw a face of complete terror.

 _I was looking like that outside of the nightmare? What is wrong with me?_

She flinched, looking up at Wren, feeling the other's dragons talons clamped firmly around her arm. Wren was looking at her with such concern - such pity. Something she really, _really_ didn't deserve. She couldn't stand it. She fixed her eyes on Wren's talon instead.

She contemplated an answer for a moment, studying the talon. It was dull white, with blotchy little spots of gray on it, and quite scarred up, especially around the palm. It almost looked like Wren had been made to hold blades there, pressed against her skin, and they had dug in when she went to slice something. Eira shook herself, no, those thoughts would do her no good now.

"Yeah, f-fine!" She forced the cheer into her voice, wincing at the way it cracked. "Just lovely, er… should we head over to the training arena, to warm up this morning?"

Wren tilted her head, for Eira's pure horror and terror one moment had vanished like dew in the hot sun. But she seemed to think better of questioning her further, something Eira was endlessly grateful for. Wren nodded, and Eira smiled over at her.

"Let's go!" Eira grabbed Wren's wrist and pulled her into the air, taking off.

Her wings trembled slightly and she felt herself leaning to the left. As her wings brushed against Wren's, she jolted up for the slightest moment. Wren didn't notice; she was looking down at her talons, flexing them.

The training arena was made of pure ice, formed by the talons of hundreds of Icewings many years ago. Tournaments were held there over the years. Eira had joined some and sometimes even got a high ranking; but never so much to even advance to the quarter finals. Her father was ashamed of her, yes, but she thought it was a waste of time. It was a burden to fight other dragons just so your name was placed in a small circle carved in ice.

Just as they began to swoop down, Eira remembered. _The Ranking Ceremony!_ She gasped aloud. _It's today! Now!_

"Got to go- no time to explain- come with me-" Eira jumbled her thoughts into a sentence. Well, she didn't believe it could be even qualified as one. _Focus!_ She shouted in her head, taking off. Wren followed along, staying silent.

Eira made it there in the nick of time, only to be yelled at by her father.

"Where were you?!" Aufeis roared, clutching her forearm and pulling her behind a building made of ice. His claws began to dig into Eira's scales and she winced. "WHERE WERE YOU?"

Eira closed her eyes, lifting her other, free arm to block the spit shooting straight at her. She opened her mouth, preparing a lie, but nothing came out. She stood there, like a dunce, as her arm was being torn off by her very own father. Well, not torn off, for Eira would still have her arm on when this all was over, but it sure felt like someone was tearing it off.

"You know what?" He snarled, looking her dead in the eye. "You are in big trouble. Very big trouble." And with that, he took off, kicking snow in her face and reporting back to the ceremony he had just began to miss.

Eira collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness, as Wren rushed over. Wren spoke with a worried tone, but the pain of her arm drowned it out. Her eyes met Wren's and they froze for a moment. Wren signaled to her arm.

A few scales were completely ripped off, others scattered and pushed in random places. Beneath it were four evenly-sized cuts. Blood gushed out of them, making it look like a permanent wound. As she looked up, Eira saw Wren mouthing a series of words to her. Due to her being half-conscious, her hearing wasn't fully working, but she still could detect what Wren was saying.

"Eira! Is there a doctor nearby? Eira!" Tears flooded down Wren's face as she shook Eira, trying to keep her awake.

This was weird. _Aren't all Icewings forced to remember the layout of the kingdom when they are young?_ Eira though, dazed.

"Next to the palace… take a right…" Eira blurted out as darkness poured in and she blacked out.

(flashback time)

* * *

" **Isn't it weird?" Slush reached out a small talon out, pretending to grab the moon. "I mean, think about it."**

" **Well, kind of. But what dragon would want to fly to one of the moons, grab it, and take it back home?" Eira laughed. She had just turned two and her small party was held at her home today. Most of the guests had left, for it was getting late, but Slush had stayed.**

" **Why wouldn't you?" His voice was bubbly and cheerful as he spoke. "Maybe the moons are edible. Hmm." Slush's gaze drifted away from the moon and into the night sky itself.**

 **Eira laughed. "You're just hungry."**

" **So you do want to go finish that polar bear?" Slush stood up and shook the snow off of his scales. "Perfect."**

 **As the two paraded into the main room of the ice-carved house, they both made sure to be quiet and not wake Eira's father, who was sleeping in his room. Right before they grabbed the bear, sharp voices arrived at the door. Eira heard talons banging against the ice and her father leapt up to open the door. Unfamiliar Icewings stomped in.**

" **Slush. Male. 2 years, as of one moon ago you were found with bloodstains on your talons shortly after the death of, and very near to, the body of the royal healer."**

 _ **Slush you… what… you never said that you had done that.**_

 **Eira's breath seemed to freeze solid in her lungs, and she stared at him with wide, moon-like eyes.**

 **He couldn't have.**

 **Yet he had been gone that very day, and come back with an extremely worried look on his face afterwards.**

 **Not to mention how much he hated the healer, ever since she couldn't save his brother, who had returned very burned up from a skirmish along the Sand Kingdom border.**

" **S-slush, you-"**

" **Eira, Let me explain what-"**

" **No!" She suddenly burst out, stepping backward and backing up to one of the icy walls, shivering and withdrawing her wings when he reached out to touch one with his own.**

" **But I didn't!" Slush stared desperately, hopelessly, into her eyes, even as a heavy chain was thrown around his frost-marked gray and white neck scales. He stared down at it hopelessly, but didn't struggle, even as the guard yanked him roughly off his feet and began to drag him over the icy floors.**

 **Eira stood there, trembling, as her eyes clouded over. "D-dad, is it true?"**

 **Aufeis reached out, grabbing her arm, just as he had a few moments ago in the waking world, though much less roughly now. "Yes, your little pal is a murderer. He'll be dead before you know it, and, until then, if i catch you talking to him, you'll be in just as much trouble!"**

 **She heard Slush yelp as he hit his head on a corner in the passage, and struggle to stand up. "L-let me walk! I don't need to be dragged! I didn't, I can prove it!"**

 **But Slush couldn't prove it. Slush was stuck in an icy cell, far from the light of day, while dragons sorted through the evidence and sifted through the clues scattered randomly about.**

 **As the days past, Eira felt more and more lonely. Her father lectured her on finding "good" friends that weren't "lowborn". Eira felt worse. Slush and her had been friends since both of them were just dragonets, and he was always there for her when she needed him.**

 **Two weeks later, a trial was announced to take place on the next day. Eira begged her father to let her be Slush's defender, but he told her that no one would listen to a one year old dragonet.**

" **I'm two!" She reminded him.**

 **He groaned and put down his scroll and wiped the ink off his talons, rubbing it on the cloth next to him. "Eira!" He snapped. "Let me write this! It is your** _ **own**_ **application for the Icewing school! Don't you want to get in?"**

 _ **No!**_ **Eira thought rebelliously, but pulled herself away from that thought.**

" **Anyway, your criminal friend's father is his defender. Idiot. His rankings are going to drop so low. What did I tell you about making friends?" He snarled.**

" **They have to have a high ranking or everyone else will suffer." Eira rehearsed. It was the dumbest thing he had ever told her, but she was forced to repeat it.** _ **Rankings don't matter! And how will anyone suffer from a number?!**_ **But she knew that she was wrong, and her father was right. Again.**

 **But there was nothing she could do, and the time of the trial came. Eira sat outside as her father came inside. He had the role of a simple guard, only there to make sure no one die.**

 **A few hours passed and Slush came out. "Slush!" Eira leaped towards him, but was shoved back by her very own father. "Slush! Where are you going?"**

 **Another guard crouched below her and winced. His face contained a lot of pity but he hid it as he turned to her father. "I'll take care of this," he said. After Aufeis walked away, the guard turned back to her. "A friend of yours?"**

 **Eira nodded and the guard looked more concerned. "He's going to be executed tomorrow. You still can see him, though, before the execution." He looked her in the eyes. "Sorry, kiddo. He killed someone."**

 **As the world turned to stone, Eira lost all of her breath and collapsed to the ground. Tears flooded her eyes and she pulled herself up and ran home.**

 **(next day)**

 **Eira stared through the bars, made of thick ice and secured with a heavy metal lock. She sat down outside of them, staring into Slush's hopeless gray-blue eyes as he lay there, in chains. She sat there, staring at him like she didn't know him anymore. To be truthful, she didn't know if she did.**

 **She had thought she had known Slush well, but now she wasn't so sure. The Slush she knew was fun-loving, a jokester, and wouldn't hurt anyone. And yet the trial had said he was guilty of** _ **murder,**_ **of all things, and so had her father.**

 **She couldn't be blamed for not believing him, after all, she was only two years old. She thought that her father, of all dragons, must be right. Back then he was her parent, the one dragon she thought she would aspire to be like, even if he was a bit angry and mean at times. Little did she know that would soon change.**

 **She ducked her head, staring at her bright white-blue talons and shuffling them against the ice, not wanting to look up at Slush.**

" **Why… why would you do that?" Her voice was hushed, close to a whisper, as she didn't want to be heard and taken out of the prison - after all, she wasn't supposed to be there.**

 **Slush raised his head up a bit, his face not one of guilt but a mask of pain and misunderstanding. The chains clanked as he moved, and she could see that they had rubbed the scales under them raw.**

" **I didn't, Eira."**

" **But my father said that you did! He wouldn't lie like that, I know he wouldn't! All the evidence says you did, Slush!" Even if she didn't fully trust her father, she didn't believe he was a liar. She quickly quieted her sudden outburst, looking above her nervously for any sign that other dragons had heard and were coming to drag her off. Despite everything, she still wanted to see Slush again, one last time, at least.**

" **Eira, I know what they said. I know I can't change my fate." His head rested on his talons, and he turned away so she couldn't see his eyes growing glassy with unspilled tears. "B-but, when all of this is over, when they find out that I didn't do it, I want you to promise me something."**

 **Eira stood there, shaking slightly, as his words rang off the icy walls. She opened her mouth to say something, say she couldn't promise. She opened it to say that she believed that he was the killer, but she couldn't say it. Even now.**

" **Please, if there's any doubt in your mind, help me." His eyes stared up at her desperately, an image that would haunt her for the rest of her life. "Y-you're the daughter of the leader of the royal guard, if nothing else, you can at least convince Aufeis. H-he'd listen to you…" He trailed off, setting his head back down on his talons with a depressed sigh.**

" **I know you don't believe me. When all of this is over, though, Eira, I need you to do something for me. Can you do that?"**

 **She nodded wordlessly, still shivering, though not with the cold but more with grief for a friend she hadn't yet lost. A friend she could have,** _ **should have,**_ **tried to save.**

" **I-if there's ever another dragon out there, one like me, help them. If there's any tiny doubt left in your mind that they did something, or are something, p-please, hang onto that. Believe in them, if you don't believe in me."**

 **His glassy eyes stared up into hers, and he gave her one last smile, the last one she would ever see him give. "Promise?"**

 **Eira stood there for a moment, eyes wide as she stared down at her best friend. And then there were heavy talons clanging down the steps, ready to take Slush away. She scrambled backwards as the guard shot her a suspicious look, but opened the icy cell without questioning her.**

 **He grabbed onto the chain that was connected to Slush's talons, wings, and neck, and began to walk out with him. Slush stayed there, curled up in a ball, until the guard gave a hard yank on the chains and he stumbled forward, lifelessly. As if he didn't have the will to struggle, or fight back, as if he knew that no matter what he did his fate would be the same.**

 **His last hope had been Eira, and she had believed in her father and the trial more than she believed in him.**

 **Eira watched, transfixed, as he was pulled up the stairs and into the snowy light world above. She stood there for what seemed hours, but was truly only minutes. She couldn't imagine life without Slush, always there to come up with some crazy-silly plan or make a joke even in the worst of times. She hesitated for one more moment, then flung herself after them with a cry of "Wait!"**

 **It was too late, though. She had hesitated too long. Her front talons landed in the snow and she swung around to chase after them on foot. She dodged around snow-capped buildings and the large ice palace, stopping in several courtyards where she thought it might be taking place.** _ **Have to stop it, have to stop it, have to stop it.**_

 **She couldn't run very fast, though, and several minutes had passed already when she had still been frozen down in the prison.**

 **She swung around a final corner into the last possible place the execution could be taking place, but then stopped dead in her tracks. She was too late, and Slush lay in the snow, his throat torn in several places, one of his wings tattered, as blue blood spilled out in an ever-advancing puddle onto the snow, tainting the previously clean place.**

 **His face was twisted into an expression of pure agony, and yet it looked like he was smiling, with the way a cut had twisted around his jaw.**

" **Ha… ha…." It took her a moment to realise Slush was laughing, even as blood bubbled forward from his mouth and he shook in one horrible final twitch. He had always coped with pain by laughing, and she supposed now was no different.**

 _ **No,**_ **now was every bit different. She unfroze, and launched herself forward toward slush, a shriek tearing from her throat.**

" **NO! SLUSH!" Before she could reach the corpse, however, she found talons pulling her back roughly, an angry face staring down at her. Aufeis. Her father. She stood there a moment, in his talons, shaking violently. She sank down into a pathetic puddle of white and blue scales on the ground, wishing she was dead.**

 **Death would be better than this. Anything,** _ **anything**_ **would be better than this.**

 **But she couldn't go back in time, she couldn't stop what had happened.**

 **As the dragons around her slowly cleared out, she was left nearly alone in the courtyard. A little female IceWing bustled in, then saw her tear-streaked face and immediately softened. She was no-doubt there to take care of the body, but she came over to Eira and touched her wing gently with her own.**

" **I'll give you a minute, but I have to get rid of the body." She said softly, before slowly moving out of the courtyard again.**

 **Eira stumbled forward, pressing her own talons to Slush's. There was only one thing she could think to say, one thing that he had asked her to do.**

" **Promise. I promise."**


End file.
